Beyond the mat: Friends, family and students remember Ken ‘Pizza’ Piazza

Hanging in Mike Montgomery’s classroom in Wright is a cartoon of a bird swallowing a frog. The frog’s head is in the bird’s mouth, but the frog is choking the bird so he can’t swallow him. And the caption reads, “Never give up.”

“That was the philosophy of Ken Piazza,” Montgomery said.

Piazza died July 12 at 77 years old.

Piazza is well known throughout Cody. In 1983, Piazza and his family moved to Cody. He taught physical education, was the head wrestling coach and an assistant football coach. He coached for years, mentoring countless students and athletes.

Those who knew him repeated one word when it came to describing Piazza, and that was “intense.”

But through the intensity that he shared with his fellow coaches and the athletes on the field and on the mat, Piazza left an indelible mark. He became a bedrock of many athletes’ growth, pushing young men to achieve goals they never dreamed possible.

He convinced his athletes that mental toughness was key. If you work hard and never give up, you will achieve great things — both on and beyond the mat.

“Life gets hard, and he touched on

that,” said Montgomery, who was coached by Piazza in wrestling and football. “He taught you that you were more than capable of handling what came at you. There will be hard times. Life is going to hand you defeats, death, divorce. Whatever it may be, it’s a matter of pushing through and continuing with your journey.”

Mike Thompson was a senior in 1983, the year Piazza moved to town. He got to experience Piazza as a coach and eventually as a friend. When Thompson got out of the Army in 1988, he came back to Cody and started coaching. It was in that year and those that followed that Piazza became a mentor, someone Thompson learned from and grew with.

Thompson has spent the last few weeks processing the loss of one of his mentors and friends. He said there are a million memories that come to mind, but one of the first is a memory he will never forget.

“One of the best quotes he ever told me was when I was trying to complain about my daughter’s team,” Thompson said. “They weren’t winning much, and Ken said, ‘You know Mike, just be thankful your daughter is healthy and able to run down the court.’ That sure put things in perspective. He saw the big picture of life. And this was just a game.”

At the end of the day, Thompson said, Piazza always believed in you. And you felt it.

Chris Williams, who coached football with Piazza from 1999 to 2007, said Piazza was all about intensity and passion. Regardless of the score, whether his team was winning big or losing big, Piazza expected kids’ best. He pushed kids to perform at a higher level than maybe even they believed they could.

“Not everyone saw Ken the way I did,” Williams said. “Ken nurtured kids. He was a tough guy, but he was a loving guy, too. I will always be indebted to him. I learned a ton about being a dad and a coach from being around Ken.”

Being a dad was a big deal to Piazza. His oldest son, Nick, remembers traveling across Wyoming for matches and games, asking his dad to get senior athletes’ autographs for him.

“We rode to school every morning, and we saw each other throughout the day,” Nick said. “We had some type of sports practice almost every evening, and most weekends we were on the road for some kind of wrestling or football game or at home for a home game. In my rebellious teenage years, we settled our disagreements on the wrestling mat in practice. I could always tell what he was thinking by looking at him, and vice versa. We were very dialed in.”

Nick spent the better part of his youth in gymnasiums across the state, watching his dad show others what he already knew — that his father was a leader in every sense.

“The cost of leadership is responsibility,” Nick said. “He knew that. A lot of people today don’t. Or they aren’t ready for that platform.”

Ken expected students to strive to be their best, to embrace the struggle because it’s inevitable. There was never an excuse for him. He just wanted students to push and get better.

“I wrestled heavy weight for him, and I was really small for that weight class,” Montgomery said. “It was a matter of going out and competing. It didn’t matter who it was you were competing against, and I think that was huge.”

Ken felt the wins and losses with his athletes. But it wasn’t always about the scoreboard. Sometimes it was about the little victories, the ones that can be life-changing. Ken pushed boundaries and knew that victory lies beyond our comfort zones.

“Ken also ran our special teams,” Williams said. “I remember that if in doubt, he was going to take a risk, an onside kick or run a fake. That was his personality. And he would celebrate when the defense got a stop whether we were up by 50 or down by 50. He was probably the most intense competitive I’ve ever known.”

Piazza was also Williams’ oldest son’s godfather.

“There was a time when the tough guy that was really intimidating to a lot of people had taken over 300 pictures on his iPad of his godson,” Williams said. “When my oldest son was old enough to play football, Ken would bark at me anytime I critiqued him. He would tell me, ‘He’s doing great.’ I had the privilege to watch Ken become a godfather and a grandfather, and that was a really cool transformation to see.”

Beyond the intensity of competition, Ken knew the value of relationships. He understood that they take time, energy and commitment. He nurtured those relationships in a way that few can.

“He was as loyal as anyone I ever knew,” Williams said. “After he had retired, he drove himself all the way to Star Valley for a game when I was the head coach. I turned and looked, and saw him. I asked him what he was doing there and he said, ‘I thought you could use a friendly face.’ He was a tough guy, and he was as loyal and true a friend as anyone I’ve ever known.”

Nick said there were certain traits and aspects of life that were core to his father, and one of those was doing things the right way. To Ken, practice didn’t necessarily make perfect.

“Perfect practice makes perfect, he would say,” Nick said. “He said there was no greater feeling, win or lose, than when you went out and competed with other people in your field who were the best at what they did or striving to be the best — knowing you’d given it all you have.”

John McDougall said Piazza was able to foster an amazing culture when it came to sports in Cody, mainly because he truly loved competition. When it came time to compete, McDougall said, Ken was “all business.”

“But he was there to help the kids who needed it,” McDougall added. “It was never about him.”

Nick said his dad stood behind the saying, “It’s not the foes that you vanquish that build your reputation, but the army you can raise.”

Ken was able to bring good people together, to build an army that valued competition and honesty. And he was capable of supporting them.

“It was probably one of the most honest relationships I’ve ever had with someone,” Nick said. “There wasn’t much I could hide from him.”

When Nick turned 18, his dad had a simple message for him.

“He told me, ‘I’ve given you all the knowledge and information I can, but now it’s up to you to choose your own path,’” Nick said. “That was huge. He was somewhat of a strong, opinionated guy. That set the tone for everything I did. He was big on reputation and doing things right, not taking shortcuts. It would have been easy for him to be this little gadfly always telling me what to do. But he didn’t. He said he was always happy to consult and answer my questions, but he said he was never going to tell me what to do.”

Ken retired from coaching and teaching in 2007.

After retiring, Ken and his wife, Jean, traveled to multiple continents. According to Ken’s obituary, the couple rode camels in the Sahara, went on safari in the South African bush, attended the Rio Olympics, explored Greece, roamed around Europe, hiked Mt. Etna in Sicily and went to Italy any chance they could get.

“Jean and Ken were always very supportive of each other,” McDougall said. “They had a very special relationship. With the kids growing up, they didn’t miss any games. When they retired, they traveled a lot and really enjoyed that.”

Prior to moving to Cody, Ken spent 12 years teaching and coaching in Beloit, Kansas. During that time, the high school football team won three state titles. Also during that time, his wrestlers won four consecutive state team titles.

Piazza earned the Wyoming High School Athletic Association Lifetime Achievement Award and was elected to the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame.

“He was a very special guy to all of us,” McDougall said. “Cody was lucky to have him.”

A Celebration of Life for Piazza will be held on Aug. 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Colonel located at 1328 Beck Ave. in Cody.

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